Currently, most user devices (e.g., mobile devices such as smart phones, tablets, cellular phones, laptops, etc.) support searching for and connecting to wireless communication systems such as Wi-Fi networks via hotspots, i.e., Wi-Fi network access points or areas. A Wi-Fi network access point, in general, may work as an Access Point (AP) for network connections.
In contrast, a set of user devices may establish an ad-hoc wireless network where a user device having a Software-enabled Access Point (SoftAP) may be used to provide a wireless client antenna that may act as both an Access Point and a client in the ad-hoc network. That is, SoftAP may act as “virtual” Wi-Fi such that software in a user device may enable the user device to create a hotspot or portable hotspot that other user devices in the vicinity may be able to use.
As such, SoftAP may enable a user device, for example, one having a wireless client antenna and network connection, as an Access Point (AP) to serve other user devices that may not otherwise have a network connection. When user devices, which may not have network (e.g., Internet) access directly, are in the vicinity or neighborhood of a SoftAP user device, those neighboring user devices may connect to a network through the user device having SoftAP functionality. It should be noted that in this disclosure, a SoftAP user device may be referred to as a Service Access Point or “SoftAP”. Also, a user device that may connect to a network through a SoftAP may be referred to as a station (STA).
SoftAP user devices generally have capabilities to use the IEEE defined 802.11 groups of protocols (e.g., 802.11a, b, c, g, n, ac, etc.), and may be any fixed, mobile, or portable user device (e.g., smart phones, tablets, cellular phones, laptops, etc.).
Most use cases of SoftAP are generally limited to a small number of stations (STAs), for example, one or two STAs. One particular aspect in which SoftAP differs from a commercial AP is that for SoftAP, there may not be a need to repeat beaconing continuously to advertise its capabilities. For a commercial access point (AP), for example, in a corporate network or a shopping mall, any user device can try to connect to a network via the commercial AP. As such, the commercial AP generally may need to continue beaconing even if there are no STAs connected.
Because user devices may be the source of a Wi-Fi hotspot, it is commonly desirable that power consumption be minimized as much as possible (especially in mobile devices, for example). However, IEEE standards may not specify power save processes for user devices working in AP mode. As such, in cases where a user device is acting as a hotspot or a SoftAP, the user device may not go into power save mode, which may result in quicker draining of the battery.